Bomb blast kills 3 policemen in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Three policemen were killed and 12 others were wounded on Sunday in a bomb blast in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, a local official said.

The escalation of violence in Afghanistan this year, the bloodiest period since the Taliban was ousted in 2001, has raised fears about the prospects of stability in the country despite an increasing number of foreign troops.

Five policemen and seven civilians were among the wounded when a wooden cart fixed with explosives was detonated outside the Chinese hospital in the capital of Kandahar province, a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar said.

Earlier reports from the governor's office in Kandahar said four policeman had been killed and the explosion came from a suicide bomber.

Removed from power in 2001, the Taliban largely rely on suicide and roadside bomb attacks as part of their campaign to topple the Western-backed government and drive out foreign troops under the command of NATO and the U.S. military.